Lincoln Battery Care 101: Ensuring Reliability and Longevity

Image via Bob Maxey Lincoln.

Modern Lincoln vehicles are sophisticated machines containing myriad microchips, sensors, and electronics designed to enhance your driving experience in every way. All these electrical components depend on the car battery to function smoothly, so it’s important to know how to care for your battery and keep it healthy, undamaged, and corrosion-free for as long as possible. With this in mind, here’s a detailed guide to car battery care. You can learn more anytime at your local Lincoln dealership. 

Keep Your Battery Squeaky Clean

Once a month, it’s a good idea to clean your car battery. In particular, clean the terminals. Sulfuric acid inside car batteries can cause a white-green corrosive material to build up on neglected terminals. This corrosion gradually reduces the battery’s ability to conduct electricity and can eventually destroy the battery. 

You can use water mixed with baking soda and a hard-bristle brush to scrub this corrosion away (once the terminals are safely disconnected). If it’s proving difficult to remove the corrosion, a technician at your local dealership can do it for you.

Use Terminal Spray To Keep Corrosion Away

You’ll save yourself a great deal of scrubbing by protecting your battery terminals and clamps with specially designed terminal spray after each clean. This spray coats the terminals in a soft, transparent, highly effective film that keeps corrosion at bay for longer. 

Drive Frequently to Prevent Sulfation 

Long periods of inactivity are bad for both a car’s engine and battery. When car batteries are left unused and uncharged for several weeks, they can gradually drain and may require a jumpstart. Worse than this, inactivity allows sulfate crystals to build up on the lead plates inside the battery, which slowly reduces the battery’s capacity. 

Tighten the Hold-Down To Minimize Vibrations

Excessive vibrations can also cause damage to a car battery, shortening its lifespan. Make sure that your battery is firmly fixed in place by trying to move it with your hands. If the battery budges at all, tighten the bolts of the hold-down until you’re unable to move it.

Give Your Battery a Warm Jacket During Winter

Cold temperatures slow down the chemical reactions that occur inside the battery. Extreme cold can even freeze the water component of the electrolyte, which can sometimes cause permanent damage. You can protect your battery during winter with a battery heater jacket that fits over the battery, keeping it snug and warm inside. 

Learn More Car Battery Care Tips at Your Local Lincoln Dealership

The friendly technicians at your local dealership will be happy to give you further guidance on battery care. They can also test the battery’s voltage to check its current condition. It’s also important to know when your battery is on its last legs and needs to be replaced.  

Visit Bob Maxey Lincoln in Detroit, MI, to learn more about proper battery maintenance. 

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